Insert into table, then sort the data without changing destination table name?

[Datino]

I have a process that inserts data into a permanent table, after the insert, the permanent table has to be sorted. The should run about once a month.

I wrote a create table statement where the source and destination are the same permanent table and get the following error: "This CREATE TABLE statement recursively references the target table. A consequence of this is a possible data integrity problem."

I googled it and found there's an option to disable the warning, but I'm wondering if it's bad practice to leave it like this, and if so, how do I write the program so as to not risk data integirty.

Thanks in advance.

proc sql;
insert into perm_table
select * from source;

create table perm_table as
select * from perm_table
order by id;
quit;

[ballardw · Accepted solution]

Is there something wrong with using Proc Append and then Proc Sort?

proc append base=perm_table data=source;

run;

proc sort data=perm_table;

   by id;

run;

[Datino]

No, I forget to use other procs sometimes because I'm more familiarized with sql.

Thank you.